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[Filipino Style] Chicken Macaroni Salad

oh well, i have nothing much to say but to me this is my kind of chicken macaroni salad 🙂

INGREDIENTS :

Chicken & Macaroni

2 liters water

600g chicken breast or any chicken parts of your choice

1 medium onion

1/4 tsp peppercorns

1/2 chicken cube (optional)

700g macaroni (or any pasta of your choice)

Vegetables

2 carrots

1 medium onion

565g pineapple chunks

1 green bellpepper (or red or both)

1 tbsp sweet pickle relish (optional)

salt and pepper to taste

Dressing

2 to 2 1/2 cups mayonnaise

1/3 can of condensed milk

200ml thick cream

1/4 tsp salt

grated or shredded cheese of your choice

PROCEDURE

Prepare the Chicken

Fill a large pot with 1.5 liters of water and put the rest of the ingredients. Let boil for 45-60 minutes on low heat.

Transfer the chicken in a plate and cool completely.

On the same pot, bring to a boil the stock left, add water as needed. Cook the pasta until al dente. Drain the pasta but DO NOT RINSE WITH WATER, just leave it as it is. Let it cool completely.

Remove the skin and bones, then flake the chicken and put in a big bowl.

Prepare the Vegetables

Cut the carrots, onion and bellpepper into small cubes.

Cut into smaller chunks the pineapple.

Combine with the chicken in the bowl.

Prepare the Dressing

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl. Set aside.

Assembly

Pour the dressing into the bowl and gently toss all ingredients until each piece is coated with the dressing.

Chill for few hours preferably overnight before serving.

NOTES

The pasta shouldn’t just be cooked in water with oil and salt. It should be cooked in a well seasoned stock, in this case, chicken stock. The macaroni will absorb the flavors in the stock as it cooks, thus giving you a pasta that is rich in flavor even without any sauce or dressing, you can even munch on it on its own 😉

DO NOT OVERCOOK the pasta, turn off the heat and drain when its al dente, it will still continue to cook as it cools down. What you want is a macaroni that will bounce as you toss and won’t stick with each other most especially will not break as you mix them all.

DO NOT RINSE the pasta after draining, this will defeat the purpose of cooking the pasta in the chicken stock.

Today, I used boneless and skinless chicken breast that is why I added some chicken cube to enhance the chicken flavor.

Add any vegetable you wish, you can add raisins, celery stalks, potato

I prefer my salad to be a sweet and creamy but not as sweet as fruit salad or have the taste of like eating fruit salad at all. Condensed milk is a sweetener, cream is to add creaminess and to lessen tangy taste of mayonnaise, salt is to balance everything, cheese is add flavor. Be sure that your dressing is in its final stage before adding to the rest of the ingredients. This will lessen the chances of breaking the macaroni as you mix in.

DO NOT SERVE THIS RIGHT AWAY. Let the flavors mingle first overnight, before you serve. 🙂